Abstract

Tropical forests are some of the most biodiverse places remaining on Earth, they providehabitat for many species, contain a rich array of plant and animal life not found elsewhere,play a role in regulating local as well as global climate and weather patterns. An estimated 6-25% of global greenhouse gas emissions arise from deforestation and degradation, primarilyof tropical forests. Papua New Guinea (PNG) contains one of the largest extant areas oftropical forest in the world, and expansion of the industrial logging industry in recent decadeshas been the biggest driver of forest decline in that nation.This thesis examines the impact of logging in Papua New Guinea (PNG) on forest carbonstocks, and the role that logging plays in attempts to reduce deforestation and degradation asa method of reducing global greenhouse gas emissions. All previously existingmeasurements from PNG which could be used to estimate carbon stocks in logged andunlogged forest were collated. The best estimate of forest carbon stocks contained in PNG’sforests in 2002 was 4,770 million tonnes (Mt) (+/-13%), and the best estimate of gross forestcarbon released through deforestation and degradation between 1972 and 2002 was 1,178 Mt(+/-18%). Forty-one percent of 2001 emissions resulted from logging. The large uncertaintyin this estimate of carbon stocks and fluxes was primarily due to the small number and plotsize of field measurements, and the lack of logging damage studies in PNG.To address this uncertainty, additional measurement of forest carbon in logged and unloggedforests in PNG, using a plotless technique designed to capture landscape scale variation in forest carbon and biomass, were undertaken across four different logging concessions inlowland rainforest. At Makapa concession in Western province, measured average unloggedabove ground forest carbon was 111.34 +/- 2.35 tonnes per hectare (t ha-1) with 34.91 +/-2.84 t ha-1 killed after the first round of logging, including damage from felling, skidding anddeforestation for road building. At Amanab concession in Sandaun province, averageunlogged above ground forest carbon ranged from 82.25 +/- 5.2 t ha-1 to 108.14 +/- 3.62 t ha-1, and between 27.57 +/- 2.36 t ha-1 and 37.66 +/- 1.80 t ha-1 killed after logging. AtAsengseng and Mosa Laem logging concessions in West New Britain province, unloggedabove ground forest carbon stocks were measured as 155.05 +/- 4.96 t ha-1 and 117.41+/-4.34 t ha-1 respectively, with losses from logging measured as 39.97 t ha-1 +/- 1.85 t ha-1 and47.85 +/- 2.35 t ha-1. On average the first harvest removed 33% of initial forest carbon,which underestimates total logging damage as repeat harvesting within 35 years iswidespread in PNG and causes additional carbon losses.During the last decade, the logging of tropical natural forest in Brazil, Indonesia, Malaysia,Cameroon, Gabon, Central African Republic, Republic of Congo, Democratic Republic ofCongo, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands generated an estimated gross value atmarket rates of between $US 18-54 billion per year. This equates to approximately $US 6 –87 per person per year. Government revenue generated by logging in these nations was~$US 2.0 billion per year or ~$US 4 per person per year, with gross carbon dioxide emissionsof 0.6-2.2 billion tonnes per year – equivalent to 0.5 – 2.7 times the volume produced byburning of fossil fuels in those countries. The overall value and proportion of the total valueof the timber industry that is captured by the governments of these ten countries is small. The argument that logging is vital for tropical nations to provide services to their people is notsupported by these estimates.Since reducing emissions from tropical deforestation and degradation (REDD) was firstproposed as an international mechanism, the government of PNG has been embroiled in aseries of forest-carbon-related scandals. Senior government officials have allegedly issuedforest carbon credits for sale on international markets without legislated authority to do so,and in the case of Kamula Doso, issued forest carbon credits for sale over an area of forestallocated as a logging concession and being disputed in the courts. The scandals surroundingREDD development in PNG fits within a broader decades-long history of mismanagement offorests and the logging industry.Logging is a major source of carbon emissions in PNG , contributes relatively little cashvalue compared to carbon emissions, and is an industry plagued with years of corruption andmismanagement. In addition logging contributes a relatively small amount to PNG’seconomy, accounting for only 5% of exports. Ceasing native forest logging in PNG wouldsave approximately 59.90 – 92.98 million tonnes of carbon dioxide from being emitted peryear. In addition, older logged forests represent a huge potential carbon sink if allowed toregenerate. Approximately 671 million tonnes of carbon dioxide could be pulled out of theatmosphere by leaving logged forests to regenerate and curtailing logging activity in PNG.This carbon sink has comparatively little economic impact on tropical populations, foregoneproducts are easily substituted, it has been demonstrated to work if the international willexists, and is readily monitored. Importantly, unlike other options, it is eminently achievable.